During the shutdown, much of the federal government was still operating, although the employees were not getting paid. The House of Representatives was the exact opposite. The members of the House were paid during the shutdown, but the House was not in session. Speaker Mike Johnson refused to open the House until the shutdown ended. It was not as if they had nothing to do. It was done for one reason: to stop the discharge petition to force a vote on requiring the Department of Justice to release the entire Epstein files. If the House had been allowed to stay open, Johnson would have had to swear in the newly elected member from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, who was going to be the necessary signature to force a vote. It was clear that Trump did not want the files released, and Johnson was doing his best to make sure that would not happen.
Once it became clear that there was going to be an agreement to end the shutdown, Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigating the Epstein files provided portions which, at a minimum, indicate that Trump had knowledge about what was going on. This puts more pressure on Congress to request the files. The Trump White House, as it has done with the economy, January 6, and the claim that the 2020 election was stolen, put out a statement about what the evidence shows, which on its face contradicts the evidence.
Then Trump ordered his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to investigate Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, and other Democrats regarding their conduct relating to Epstein and his criminal activity. Any lawyer — especially the chief law enforcement officer in the country — who is asked to investigate only one party would push back and point out that it must apply to everyone, no matter their party affiliation. Despite what Trump thinks about the January 6 attackers on the Capitol, a crime is a crime, regardless of the political affiliation of the person committing it. The same applies here. If there was criminal conduct, it should not matter what party the perpetrator belongs to or their money and status.
Nevertheless, Attorney General Pam Bondi dutifully agreed to act on Trump’s request. This is one more nail in the coffin of the reputation of the Department of Justice. They are becoming nothing more than Trump’s personal lawyers. It will take years to undo the damage.
Trump, in his first term, wanted the DOJ to be his personal law enforcement entity to go after his enemies and help him steal the 2020 election. This was before he was ever investigated and charged with any crime. Back then, the DOJ was led by professionals such as AG Jeff Sessions and William Barr, who were institutionalists. The ranks of the DOJ were staffed with career professionals whose job was to fairly administer justice and uphold the law. This also applied to the FBI. All of this was before the Supreme Court ruled that the president has immunity for his official duties, which they broadly interpreted.
So now we are stuck with a group of Trump loyalists in the Justice Department and in the FBI who will do whatever Trump wants, no matter how legally dubious it is.
I have little confidence that the released files will contain much. Bondi and her team will have had the chance to clean up the files so that anything significantly damaging to the president and his allies will be gone. They may be limited by the fact that some of the information came from other sources that could also provide it, such as Epstein’s estate. I would not be surprised if, after the files are provided by the DOJ, we find out that certain documents were not included. Then the DOJ will come out with the excuse that it was unintentional.
Even more important than the documents is Ghislaine Maxwell. As the popular expression goes, “She knows where the bodies are buried.” That is why Trump’s former personal lawyer, now Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, went to speak with Maxwell. He wanted to make sure she would not implicate Trump. It was a softball interview by an experienced prosecutor and defense lawyer who knows how to cross-examine a witness. The deal — which is clear for everyone to see — is that Maxwell, if she said what Trump wanted, would receive a benefit. The benefit was her being sent to a minimum-security prison. There was a whistleblower saying that even at this facility she was receiving special treatment, such as being provided with a puppy.
What is also important is following the money. How did Epstein make his money? Was he offering the girls and then blackmailing those who took him up on his offer?
Trump has not handled this well. This includes having the Attorney General and the FBI director try to intimidate Lauren Boebert into changing her vote on the discharge petition. Trump’s request that the AG go after only Democrats will keep the issue in the public eye. Trump having a spat with MAGA queen Marjorie Taylor Greene and promising to support her opponent in a primary is not going to stop some in MAGA from continuing to request the release of the file. Trump now calling it a Democratic hoax when he campaigned on getting it released, and having his AG say she would release the Epstein list and then claiming it does not exist, is also problematic.
The Speaker, realizing that the House is going to vote to release the file, is moving up the vote. Then it will go to the Senate. Trump, realizing the inevitable, put out a statement on Sunday that he supports their release. Is this a lasting change, or will Trump return to his prior position and try to strong-arm the Republican senators into not going along with the request? That will only keep the issue in people’s minds.
Then, if the Senate passes the bill, will Trump veto it? Based on what Trump said on Sunday, I would say no. But with Trump, you never know. For a person who says he has nothing to hide, he seems to be acting in a manner inconsistent with that claim.
